You saw the car at KLIMS13 – the display unit had a 145 PS/175 Nm 1.8 litre Nu MPI engine and a six-speed auto. A 2.0 litre GDI engine (same as the i40‘s) is available elsewhere – whether that would be introduced here remains to be seen.

While most dream of the future, Jonathan Tan dreams of the past, although he's never been there. Fantasises much too often about cruising down Treacher Road (Jalan Sultan Ismail) in a Triumph Stag that actually works, and hopes this stint here will snap him back to present reality.

After decontenting thier current models, and jacking up the price, it remains to be seen how they are going to move this at 120-130K. This is madness.

Lets see how much the new 308 will be priced at. Even the current 308 is now being “offered” likely to clear stock.

The 1.8 Nu is kind of the unloved middle child. Not powerful enough to match the other bigger brother 2.0L and not small enough to take advantage of the 1.6L road tax rate, while being insignificant in terms of fuel consumption to either one.

If anything they should have brought in the 1.6 Turbo GDI if they are going to sell that this near the price bracket.

I’m sure you can find many many very very cheap VW Golf TSIs in the 2nd hand market now if one needs a euro hatch. :p sorry to VW owners, couldn’t help it….some VW rep was damn lansi when I was looking at a TSI before the shit hit the fan.

Actually, the i30’s primary gasoline engine offered is the Nu 1.8 and not the Nu 2.0. Same goes for the Elantra. The facelifted Elantra MD is offered with a Nu 2.0 only in the Middle East (according to Hyundai Motor’s product video for the facelifted Elantra MD that is available on their official YouTube channel).
If the Nu 1.8 engine in the Elantra isn’t powerful, do you think it would have won the 2012 North American Car Of The Year award?
Likewise, if the i30 is the “unloved middle child”, would the i30 have been shortlisted as one of the finalists for the 2013 European Car Of The Year too??

Hyundai i30 might be one of the Suprima S greatest competitors in hatchback segment. Generally, Hyundai i30 wins all against Suprima S from the design, quality to the package; accept the rear suspension setup the Hyundai i30 uses torsion beam compared to Suprima S multi link suspension. Anyway, driving dynamics for Suprima S is not totally the greatest even though it carries Lotus badge. There are still spaces for improvements. Interior wise, Hyundai i30 comes with good designs compared to Suprima S. The fit and finish too, even though it is not top notch.
I think Proton designers and all related personnel really have to learn from Hyundai and Kia as their recent models really changed a lot compared to previous generations, of course the current Hyundai and Kia models not actually designed by Korean.
Designs, features, technologies and safety feature really a big jump for Hyundai and Kia. Improvements can be found in every models and generations. About safety, Proton shouldn’t stick to their current offer. Improvements mean more safety equipment to be offered and more Hot Press Foaming (HPF) steel has to be used. Some car manufacturers already increase HPF more than 50% in the car structure to make the car lighter but stronger. Proton Preve and Suprima S only have 12 areas using HPF and yet the cars are getting heavier.
After the launched of Suprima S, I really disappointed with Proton as they took too long time to come out half-baked Suprima S as most of the parts are from Preve. Those so called bad quality interior from Preve still carried into Suprima S although Proton chairman insists Suprima S as a totally brand new model for the new hatchback C segment. Designers designed something which is not functional such as rear bumper with no functional diffuser and rear light guide which is so thin, makes it just a feature than functionality. Technical side choosing bad product such as 7” screen ICE with navigation which comes with poor display quality, very old Android OS and with some bugs. The sound systems with 4 speakers and 2 twitter not as good as company like Clarion can offer or at least get higher end products. Smart Info Display (SID) still using red backlit lights really can be very ignorant as it can be confused as warning lights and the warning lights can sometimes to be ignored by drives as it thought it is just a normal lights. All this have to be changed soon! No more carry it to facelift Preve and Suprima S. Does Proton know about blue or black backlit colour? The center console light colour for ESP, front passenger airbag etc. too. Proton can use green if it is on, yellow or red if it is off mode!
Interior quality and fit and finish are the biggest problem in Proton cars even until today. For example, the gap between the A pillar panel and the top part of dashboard. Gaps between front side door and dashboard and there is no smooth connections between each panel such as silver part of the side door not in line with the one on the dashboard. There is no silver part for rear door panel. The fit and finish center console also pretty bad and the feel of the button when being press. The gear shift just like not fix properly.
Proton, please learn from Japanese including Korean’s Hyundai and Kia, at least.

If you think Hyundai cars have too many weaknesses that doesn’t make them fit to be sold at high prices against your liking, think again. All cars have their own plus points and minus points. And it’s up to the car buyer to decide which set of wheels is the best choice in terms of value for money.

Frankly, in my honest opinion, price:specs (price to spec ratio) for Toyota cars in Malaysia is worse than that for Hyundai cars in Malaysia (except Elantra, i10 and Santa Fe. and BTW, Veloster is actually more of a coupe rather than a hatchback)

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